Welcome to the September edition of Schull District and Community Council Newsletter.
School has started, it’s getting dark earlier and staying dark later and the swallows spent last week on the electricity wires planning for their long journey back to the sun, the swifts left weeks ago. Suddenly, it’s September. It was a good summer, we were untroubled by heat-waves and that was no bad thing.
The hundreds of people who called into the Tourist Information Office were very impressed by the opportunities for every type of diversion on offer in the area during the summer. There was everything from Fit-Up theatre to Fun Runs, encompassing a huge range of activities in between. The most frequent enquiries were about the way marked walks in the Schull area and many people returned to the office to say how wonderful they were. The amount of people who took to the water was remarkable and not just to the sandy delights of Barleycove and Ballyrisode. Happy groups of people disported themselves early and late in the clean, safe and sheltered swimming places around Schull harbour. Trá an Oiléain or Cadogan’s is a specially delightful outdoor amenity and was packed most of the summer. Unfortunately there was some vandalism in the course of the busyness but the County Council and the Gardaí dealt with the situation extremely effectively.
There was fun on the water as well as fun in it. Calves week provided some wonderful sailing and the town was full for the week. The two days of Schull Regatta definitely provided “Fun on the Water”. Traditionally this is when scattered families reunite to celebrate the summer and each other. Thirty-two members of one local family came for the week, seventeen of them entered the competitive events and they bore home several prizes. That’s just one example – there were many more who had the same kind of family fun. Looking at the multi generational crowd in the street on the final evening, collecting prizes, dancing and singing along to the band, it became obvious that nearly everyone was related. The Regatta committee did a wonderful job. They are inspirational.
The final fling of the summer was Ryan Tubridy’s visit to Schull. On a glorious morning the town showed itself off shamelessly and with justification. Tubs was highly impressed with his interviewees, with the beauty of the place, with everything – so much so that he kept referring to his visit to Schull for the rest of the week.
Schull was all smiles
